Ibn al-Jazzar= Zad al-Musafir (Diseases and Their Treatment-Book review
Ibn al-Jazzar was a tenth-century Arab physician and member of a distinguished medical family in Qayrawan, the mediaeval capital of Tunisia. The present volume, one of seven written by Ibn al-Jazzar, provides a concise presentation of sex-related ailments, providing an illuminating snapshot of the development of medical science in the tenth century; it also provides insights for anyone interested in the view of sex and sexuality in Arab society in that period. By the early eleventh century, Zad al-Musafir had already been translated into Greek, and in the twelve century, into Latin and Hebrew. It was among the standard texts for medical instruction at Salerno, Montpellier, Bologne, Paris, and Oxford. Furthermore, Zad reflects the long-received wisdom from such classical figures of medicine and philosophy as Hypocrites, Aristotle, Rufus, Galen, Paul of Aegina, and Polemen.
Zad comprises an introduction and twenty chapters, divided into sections dealing with the sexual ailments of men (chapters 1-8) and women (chs. 9-18), as well as sciatica (ch. 19), and gout (ch. 20). Translator-editor Gerrit Bos approached his task by means of philological comparison, collating the available extant manuscripts of Zad in Berlin, Dresden, Oxford’s Boodlian Huntington, Teheran-Malik, Copenhagen, the Wellcome Institute, and the Tarim al-Ahqaf Library.
Ibn al-Jazzar’s approach to the aetiology of disease was based on Galen’s humoural theory, according to which the four basic fluids of blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile determine, by their relative proportions in the body, determine a person’s physical and mental constitution. He furthermore embraced Galen’s allopathic principle of treatment, contraria contrariis curantur (opposites are cured by opposites). Galen also is the source of some of the specific remedies Ibn al-Jazzar recommends. Another of Ibn al-Jazzar’s important sources is Paul of Aegina, a seventh-century compiler of medical texts widely used in the Islamic world, where he was known as al-qawabili, The Obstetrician. In matters relating to pharmacology, Ibn al-Jazzar relies on several sources. When discussing simple drugs, he relies mainly on the first-century physician Dioscurides; when discussing compound drugs, he relies mainly on various Arab authorities. The few magical prescriptions Ibn al-Jazzar recommends appear to be based on the work Firdaws al-Hikma, by the ninth-century Arab physician al-Tabari.
In the Introduction, Ibn al-Jazzar explains animal lust and the nature of sexual power. His source is Galen, whose ideas, in turn, may have been an adaptation of Aristotle’s views on sexuality, as something natural and necessary for the survival of species. In the original Arabic, Ibn al-Jazzar uses the term of Creator, which mean God created procreative organs.
Chapter One deals with impotence and its treatment. Ibn al-Jazzar invokes Polemen, positing the importance of both the mind and the senses in engendering sexual
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excitement. The author also describes the anatomy and physiology of the sexual organs. The chapter is mainly based on the writings of Galen.
Ibn al-Jazzar goes on to discuss impotence, explaining erections as the product of two elements: the first, which man has in common with lower animals, is natural desire; the second, unique to man, is imagination. It is worth mentioning that imagination features prominently in Latin writings on coitus.
According to Ibn al-Jazzar, the brain is the source of sperm cells. This idea, originally propounded by Plato, and espoused by the Arab medical writers al-Kindi and al- Tabari, was one of the three theories concerning the source of sperm widely accepted among the classical Greek thinkers. The second theory, propounded in the pseudo- Maimonidaic mediaeval treatise Ma’amar Razei ha-Hayyim ha-Miniyyim (Tract on the Secrets of Sexual Life), was that sperm originates in all parts of the body. The third theory was that sperm, like blood, is merely a residual product derived from food. In mediaeval Arabic medical literature, this last idea was propounded in K. al- Dhakhira, ascribed to Thabit ibn Qurra.
Ibn al-Jazzar believed that the seat of lust is the liver, a view widely reflected in mediaeval Arab medical writings, including those of al-Tabari, al-Kindi, and ibn Sina. Ibn al-Jazzar describes the function of the testicles, contending that they impart power to the whole body; it is this power that causes males to be masculine and females feminine. Implicit in this view, originally propounded by Galen and widespread in the Middle Ages, is the assumption that women also have testicles, albeit smaller and less perfectly formed than men, namely the ovaries.
The final part of Chapter One is devoted to aphrodisiacs. Ibn al-Jazzar recommends various foods and remedies, simple and compound, to increase the amount of one’s sperm, and to enhance one’s potency and sexual desire. Most of Ibn al-Jazzar’s recommendations feature in medical writings from ancient Greece through the Arab authorities mentioned above. Enhanced production of sperm is attributed to fresh meat, especially brain, egg yolk, pine nuts, and pepper.
Chapter Two deals with priapism, a condition involving a swelling of the penis and constant erection. Ibn al-Jazzar’s views here derive from Galen and the early Byzantine medical writers. He prefaces his prescriptions for priapism with a reference to Galen’s dictum, contraria contrariis curantur, in this case, the avoidance of any stimulus to sexual desire. Thus, Ibn al-Jazzar recommends cold remedies and the avoidance of anything that induces flatulence. One such remedy is the chaste-tree’s seed, on which, according to Galen, the women of Athens would sleep during chief festivals, to be rid of sexual desire. Ibn al-Jazzar concludes with an explicit warning against hot food and drink.
Chapter Three deals with the condition involving a constant, involuntary flow of sperm, referred to as ‘gonorrhoea’ (sayalan) in the ancient medical literature. Ibn al- Jazzar, like Galen, ascribes this affliction to either of two causes: a weakness in the seminal vesicles, in which case there is no erection; or a malady of the sperm themselves, in which case an erection can exist.
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The treatment prescribed is a compound of cold [?] and various oils rubbed on the penis and loins.
Chapter Four deals with nocturnal emissions (ihtilam), which Ibn al-Jazzar believes could have any of the following causes:
1. a surplus of sperm, which is common among young adults;
2. a feeling of closeness during sleep with the woman one loves;
3. imaginary intercourse during sleep with the woman one fancies.
The treatments Ibn al-Jazzar recommends are:
• eating cold foods;
• rubbing cooling remedies on the thighs and penis;
• rubbing the penis with camphor and rose oil;
• sleeping on one’s side on a cold bed.
Chapter Five deals with ulcers and tumours of the penis, and their treatment. In accordance with the humoural theory he subscribes to throughout his treatise, Ibn al- Jazzar contends that ulcers and tumours are caused by an excess of humours flowing to the penis from all other areas of the body. His prescribed remedies for moist ulcers and ulcers unaccompanied by tumours, are similar to those prescribed by Galen. Also, like Galen, Ibn al-Jazzar recommends plasters for tumours, pustules, and swelling of the penis.
The subject of tumours is carried over into the Chapter Six, where testicular neoplasms and their treatment are discussed. Here too, in following the humoural analysis of disease, hot and cold tumours are believed to be caused by excessive amounts of hot and cold humours, respectively, reaching the testicles. Ibn al-Jazzar prescribes various dressings and plasters, some of them similar to those recommended by Galen.
Chapter Seven treats various other afflictions of the testicles: vesicular ulcers, itching, open sores, and fissures. His therapeutic recommendations are derived from Galen, Oribasius, Paul of Aegina, and al-Tabari.
In Chapter Eight, scrotal hernias are dealt with. Here, Ibn al-Jazzar prescribes treatments he developed himself, as well as treatments prescribed by Dioscurides and Sabur ibn-Sahl, a Christian physician from Gondeshapur who compiled a compendium of drugs widely used by apothecaries.
Ibn al-Jazzar commences his discussion of women’s diseases in Chapter Nine, with amenorrhoea, the absence of the menses. Adhering to the Aristotelian-Galenic analysis of menstruation, Ibn al-Jazzar contends that women are naturally cold and moist.; as they lack the natural body heat to burn excess humours, they expel them by means of menstruation. Ibn al-Jazzar believes that this lack of natural body heat means that women are less perfect then men. The notion of the biological inferiority of women was widely prevalent in mediaeval medical literature, and often reinforced by data concerning putative feminine psychological and ethical inferiority. It is worth
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noting, however, that the medical writer Soranus took issue with the idea of a supposed feminine constitutional inferiority deriving from moisture and cold. All in all, Ibn al-Jazzar’s proposed aetiology reflects a highly formalised Galenic, humoural analysis. Yet Ibn al-Jazzar also offers additional possible causes of amenorrhoea: psychological stress, anxiety, continuous sorrow, anger, and fear.
Ibn al-Jazzar believes the symptoms of amenorrhoea are: lack of appetite, nausea, and a craving for harmful things to eat, including charcoal and dirt. Here too, he follows adheres to Galen.
Chapter Ten deals with excessive bleeding during menstruation (hypermenorrhoea). Ibn al-Jazzar’s highly schematic exposition of the ailment’s aetiology in Galenic and humoural. Among the main causes of hypermenorrhoea, according to this approach, is low quality blood, which takes on different hues, depending on whether it is sharp, bitter, or heavy with mucous.
Ibn al-Jazzar recommends a variety of decoctions, electuaries, pills, pessaries, and powders.
Chapter Eleven is devoted to hysterical suffocation. Its symptoms are: lack of appetite, coldness, fainting spells, weak pulse, and occasionally convulsive contractions. Two categories of women are at particular risk: widows and virgins. Among the recommended treatments are:
• message
• sniffing various ingredients with a disagreeable odour
• sternutatories
• fumigation
• cupping glasses
• suffumigation
• fragrant drugs.
Chapter Twelve focuses on uteral tumours. The humoural aetiology Ibn al-Jazzar posits ascribes neoplasms of the uterus to an excess of either yellow bile or coarse black bile. Possible non-humoural causes Ibn al-Jazzar mentions are: coarse winds, injuries, and amenorrhoea.
The treatments Ibn al-Jazzar recommends include:
• bleeding the patient from the basilic or median cubital vein
• decoctions
• plasters
• poultices
• suppositories
• compresses and sitz baths with boiled nard (for hot tumours).
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As authorities for some of his prescribed treatments, Ibn al-Jazzar invokes Galen, Dioscurides, and Paul of Aegina.
Chapter Thirteen deals with uteral ulcers. Ibn al-Jazzar’s causes and symptoms are both based on the writings of Paul of Aegina. The treatments Ibn al-Jazzar proposes include:
• drugs, both simple and compound
• decoctions
• suppositories
• special diet
• sitz baths.
Ibn al-Jazzar concludes with instructions for the making of two types of suppositories recommended by Dioscurides. One type, consisting of meal made of fenugreek seed mixed with goose fat, was used to treat hardness and obstruction of the uterus. The second type, made of fig soup mixed with egg yolk, was used to treat ulcers and amenorrhoea.
The central topic of Chapter Fourteen is uteral prolapse. Ibn al-Jazzar believes that prolapse of the uterus results from an excess of moisture, which causes a relaxation of the uteral ligaments; continuous sitting on cold surfaces; bathing in cold water; and a difficult childbirth.
Among Ibn al-Jazzar’s prescribed treatments are:
• sleeping on one’s back, with knees together and the lower legs apart
• linen bandages
• ointments
• sitz baths
• rubbing of cow dung on vagina
• fumigation with foetid odours
• rubbing oils on vagina.
Some of these treatments are based on the writings of Soranus, Paul of Aegina, and Dioscurides.
In Chapter Fifteen, Ibn al-Jazzar proposes a healthy regimen for pregnant women. Such a regimen includes the application of ointments and poultices to strengthen the umbilical chord. For the final stages of pregnancy, bathing, ointments, and relaxing foods are what a woman needs.
Ibn al-Jazzar recommends that when a pregnant woman craves for what is injurious, such as clay or charcoal, she should be given roasted chickpeas, while fragrant poultices are applied to her stomach. Several of Ibn al-Jazzar’s recommendations are derived from Galen and Soranus.
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Chapter Sixteen deals with the subject of difficult childbirth. The causes according to Ibn al-Jazzar are similar to those enumerated in the pseudo-Galenic Definitiones Medicae, and include:
• worry
• narrowness of the uteral passage
• obesity
• very young pregnancies.
The means Ibn al-Jazzar recommends for dealing with difficult childbirth include:
• bathing in water containing fenugreek, marshmallow’s seeds, linseed and peeled barley.
• rubbing of thighs and abdomen with sesame oil and jasmine oil.
• massage of sides and waist, and rub with oil.
• drugs such as oxymel (sakanjabin).
• wine with pounded mint
• sneezing.
Ibn al-Jazzar also recommends the magic means of hanging a dry stone or cyclamen
on the woman’s thighs.
Chapter Seventeen covers the topics of contraception and abortion. Ibn al-Jazzar’s attitude towards these matters may be described as neutral: he offers lists of both fertility drugs and magic contraceptives. Such neutrality is in conformity with Islam; the use of contraceptives and abortifacients as means of birth control has been practised in Islamic society, and is sanctioned by Islamic law. That this had, in fact, been the attitude of Islam is born out in discussions of contraception and abortion in various categories of literature in Islamic cultures: medical, legal, erotic, and popular.
It is reasonable to infer that Ibn al-Jazzar’s prescription of magical contraceptives reflects a social reality wherein such contraceptives were the only ones the poor could afford; ‘normal’, particularly compound, drugs were very expensive. Ibn al-Jazzar includes a warning that contraceptives and abortifacients should only be used when medical justification exists: when childbirth posed a danger to a woman’s life, or in the case of a diseased or malfunctioning uterus. There are the two main justifications for Arab physicians to use birth control means.
Ibn al-Jazzar provides a list of contraceptives and abortifacients. These include, for women, putting alum in the vagina, to prevent insemination or to expel the foetus. For men, he recommends a contraceptive juice of mint, savin, cyclamen, lupine, birth wort, cinnamon, and castoreum.
Chapter Eighteen deals with the extraction of the placenta from the uterus after childbirth. The means Ibn al-Jazzar recommends include:
• sneezing induced by sniffing soapwort, with the mouth and nostrils shut
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• drinking any of several compound drugs, among them water with marshmallow ashes, which serve as emetics
• licking saffron.
Chapter Nineteen covers an affliction he terms ‘sciatica’, which affects the hip joint. According to Ibn al-Jazzar, sciatica is caused by a viscous, mucous-like humour that settles in the socket of the hip-bone. The symptoms are, amongst the elderly, pain and heaviness of the hip, or mainly amongst young men, severe pain; a constant, heavy throbbing; a burning sensation; and inflammation. Both the causes and symptoms Ibn al-Jazzar mentions are apparently derived from Paul of Aegina.
Among the treatments Ibn al-Jazzar recommends for sciatica caused by hot humours are: bleeding, purgatives, enemas, cold food, and cold ointments. The patient is further admonished to adhere to a special regimen of moderate eating and drinking, and abstention from sex.
Gout, another affliction of the joints, is the subject of Chapter Twenty. It is a heavy hurting pain occuring to the feet. Ibn al-Jazzar, as Paul of Aegina before him, bases his aetiology of the disease on bad humours and weakness of the joints. Ibn al-Jazzar believes such weakness is caused by a restful, easy life, and immoderate eating and drinking. When such an unhealthy regimen is accompanied by frequent sexual intercourse, the inevitable result is gout; frequent intercourse is harmful both to the nerves, which have been corrupted already by easy living, and to the joints, which become hot and attract superfluous humours.
According to Ibn al-Jazzar, three types of people do not suffer from gout:
• eunuchs
• young boys
• women.
Neither eunuchs nor young boys engage in sexual intercourse, and while women do engage in it, it is less physically taxing on them, and they furthermore expel bodily superfluities during menstruation. The treatments recommended by Ibn al-Jazzar include:
• evacuation of the harmful superfluities, both hot and cold, with various herbs and pills extract from such as colchicum, sagepenum, myrobalan, pepper, asafetida, leek, and oil of jasmine.
• eating foods that are quickly digested
• physical exercises.
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Comments:
This work done by translated and edited by Gerrit Bos is a useful reference for institutions, colleges and individuals that focus on the history of Islamic medicine. It is a unique masterpiece, with rich references and different languages.
I have however ....But this work, lack of certain things:
1. Page 39, line 3 (Ibn al-Jazzar text): ashrata, instead of ‘ashrata .
2. More details and explanation about Cimolian earth (pages: 256, 257, 286).
3. Page 286, written Cimolean earth.
4. Page 224, line 1383 the Arabic text: al-harif, instead of al-kharif.
5. Latin names of plants (at least an index ).
Published at: Mon Jan 20 2025
Ethno-Botanic Treatments for Paralysis (Falij) in the Middle East
1. Introduction
The use of plant medicines in the Middle East has his- torical roots in Ancient Arabic medicine, which itself was influenced by the ancient medicinal practices of Mesopotamia, Greece, Rome, Persia, and India. During the Umayyad rule (661-750 A.D.), translations of ancient medical works began. The Abbasids dominated the so- ciopolitical life of the greater part of the Muslim world from 750 to 1258 A.D. Within a century, Muslim physi- cians and scientists were making original contributions to medical and botanical knowledge. In Baghdad, and in other parts of the Muslim world, centers of medical learning had already been founded. The next 3 centuries saw the synthesis and creation of new drugs and thera- pies [1].
One of the greatest and most famous Islamic doctors was Ibn Sina (Avicenna, 980-1037 A.D.), who combined the Canon of Medicine, which includes many descrip- tions of uses for medicinal plants. Another Arabic phi- losopher-physician was al-Razi (Rhazes, 865-923 A.D.), who composed a Comprehensive Book on Medicine. This material composed was arranged under the headings of different diseases, with separate sections on pharma- cologic topics. Ibn al-Baytar’s (1197-1248 A.D) work, the Compendium of Simple Drugs and Food described more than 1400 medicinal drugs, including 300 previ- ously undocumented drugs. This scholarly medical tradi- tion which was molded in the tenth century matured through the eleventh and twelfth centuries, reached a
peak in the thirteenth through sixteenth centuries, and later declined during the seventeenth through the nine- teenth centuries. Medical information grounded in Arab classical medical scholarship of the Middle Ages was gradually transferred to local traditional healers and to the general public. Arabs relied primarily on their tradi- tional medicine [2]. In this way, Arab classical medicine became the exclusive domain of traditional medicine and folk healers in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries [3]. Most of the herbs were used both as food and as medi- cine [4].
Many of the plants used by the Arab have direct ef- fects on the body as purgatives, emetics, astringents, or tonics, or cause/prevent vomiting or diarrhea. This tradi- tional medicine is based on a practical knowledge of plants and disease treatments over centuries. It should be noted that some plants are used similarly throughout the Middle East, while some plants have different uses in different countries in the region.
Based on their patterns of life, the Arab in the Middle East belongs to three distinct ethnic groups: the urban- ized (hadar); the peasants (fallahin); and the nomads and seminomad Bedouin tribes (badu) [1].
2. Methodology
The data for this paper are derived from a broader study of ethno-botany and folk medicine of the Middle East over three decades. The paper is based on interviews with healers and patients. Unstructured interviews and
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158 A. ABU-RABIA
the observation of participants were carried out in the informants’ homes (men and women), as well as in the homes of traditional healers (men and women). Most of the healers were in the age range of forty to eighty years old. All the informants were married and over thirty years old. All the material was recorded in field logs, and some was tape-recorded. Plant samples were collected and identified by healers, tribal elders, and university botanists. The samples were identified and classified according to the plant seeds, leaves, fruit, taste, color and shape.
3. Results
This paper describes beliefs and treatments for specific forms of Paralysis and other nervous disorders in the Middle East by traditional herbalists among the Arabs in the Middle East. In this study, we found that Arab use various parts of the plants, including leaves, flowers, barks, stems, stalks, roots, rhizomes, bulbs, tubers, fruit, corns, shells, seeds, stones/pits (in fruits), soft seed pods, grain buds, shoots, twigs, stolons, oils, resins and gums. These parts are used fresh and soft, or cooked or dried. Toxic plants/bulbs are dried, boiled several times in wa- ter, or placed in hot ashes and then used for medicines or foods. The dosages for patients with the same diseases or disorders may vary, according to the ages and the struc- tures of the patients’ bodies.
The rich variety of approaches employed by different healers to treat specific forms of paralysis and other nervous disorders is indicative of the depth and breadth of indigenous medicine practiced among the Arab in the twentieth century. It should be noted that wild desert plants also contain a host of other biologically active compounds besides nutrients. The physiological effects of these other compounds in relation to plant nutrients are not well known, but could affect nutrient and medical utilization or other functions. These topics are of rele- vance for future research in terms of improving our un- derstanding of human nutritional and medical require- ments of the people in the Middle East.
Analysis of the findings shows that the Middle East is the geographic origin of both wild and cultivated me- dicinal plants. In this research the author found 152 plants species belonging to 58 families that treat parlay- sis and other nervous disorders. The most significant plants species are found in the six families of herbs: Labiatae with 21 plants, Compositae with 15 plants, Umbelliferae with 15 plants, and Papilionaceae with 10 plants, Liliaceae with 7 plants, Solanaceae with 6 plants. An appendex shows the whole families with their plants species.
This paper deals with the six representative families; the Latin name of the species is given first followed by the Arabic and English names as described below:
4. Labiatae: (21 Plants)
4.1. Ballota Nigra L.
Arabic: Ferasyoun aswad.
English: Black hemp-nettle.
Plant parts: The whole herb.
Active constituents: Essential oil, tannin, gallic acid
[5].
Ethno-botanical use: Antispasmodic, to make one less
nervous [5,6] and sedative (is a drug which quiets nerv- ous activity). Flowering branches are an antispasmodic [7] and tranquilizer (a drug used in calming persons suf- fering from nervous tension and anxiety). Leaves and flowers are boiled in water: used as anti-spasmodic [8] and sedative.
4.2. Coridothymus Capitatus (L.) Reichb
Arabic: Zahayfy, Za’tar Farisy.
English: Wild thyme.
Plant parts: Leaves and flowers.
Active constituents: The essential oil contains phenols:
carvacrol and thymol [9].
Ethno-botanical use: Boil leaves and flowers in water,
stay in the bathtub for one hour, once a day for one month to treat paralysis [10].
To treat paralysis: Prepare a steam bath from the leaves and use it daily for a month.
4.3. Lavandula Officinalis
Arabic: Khuzama, Khuzama ma’rufa
English: Common lavender
Plant parts: Leaves and flowers.
Active constituents: Pinene, limonene, geraniol, bor-
neol, essential oil, tannin [5,11]; lavender oil and cou- marins [8].
Ethno-botanical use: Infusion of flowering summits or lavender oil are antispasmodic [5,7,8].
4.4. Melissa Officinalis L.
Arabic: ’Ishbit el-Nahel, Turunjan.
English: Lemon-balm.
Plant parts: Leaves, and flowers.
Active constituents: Essential oil obtained from leaves
contain citral and citronal [9].
Ethno-botanical use: Leaves and flowers used to re-
lieve convulsions [12]. A water infusion is used as a tranquilizer; extracts of the leaves relax muscle spasms [9]. Infusion of leaves is an antispasmodic [7].
4.5. Mentha Longifolia L./Mentha Piperita L./ Mentha Pulegium L./Mentha Spicata L.
Arabic: Na’na’ barri, Na’na, Habaq.
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English: Mint, Horse mint.
Plant parts: Leaves.
Active constituents: Menthol, tannin, essential oil, bit-
ter principle [5]; Magnesium and potassium [13]; com- mercial menthe oil (menthylacetate, menthol and men- thone) [14].
Ethno-botanical use: Preparation: boil in water and drink; boil the leaves in water and drink two to four cups a day as a sedative and relieves spasms [5]. Treat muscle spasms and convulsions, and pain of facial paralysis [12]; an antispasmodic [7]; to prevent muscle spasms [9].
4.6. Micromeria Fruticosa (L.) Druce
Arabic: Qurnya, ’Ishbit esh-shai, Duqat ’Adas.
English: Thyme-leaved savory.
Plant parts: Leaves, flowers.
Active constituents: Essential oil: novel, natural mono-
terpene ketone [9].
Ethno-botanical use: Drink an infusion from the leaves
and flowers in order to strengthen and calm the nerves [9].
4.7. Nepeta Cataria
Arabic: Qatram, hashishat al-her.
English: Catmint, catnip.
Plant parts: Leaves, the whole plant.
Preparation: Boil leaves in water and drink.
Active constituents: Vitamin C [13]; thymol, carvacrol
and lactones [8].
Ethno-botanical use: Antispasmodic [8].
4.8. Ocimum Basilicum L.
Arabic: Rayhan.
English: Sweet basil, basilica.
Plant parts: Leaves and seeds.
Preparation: Boil in water and drink.
Active constituents: Essential oil, tannin [5]; oil is the
active ingredient which consists: thymol, linalol, cineol, eugenol, terpenes, sesquiterpenes, and methylchavicol [11,14,15].
Ethno-botanical use: Used as a calming medicine [16]; used as a calming sedative and antispasmodic [8].
4.9. Origanum Vulgare L.
Arabic: Mardagush
English: Oregano, Organy, wild majorana
Plant parts: Leaves, the whole herb.
Active constituents: Essential oil, tannin, thymol, car-
vacrol; and vitamin C [13].
Ethno-botanical use: Antispsmodic [5]. Treats pains of
facial paralysis [11,12]. Copyright © 2012 SciRes.
4.10. Rosmarinus Officinalis
Arabic: Iklil al-Jabal, Hasalban.
English: Rosemary
Plant parts: Leaves, flowers.
Preparation: Boil the leaves in water and drink.
Active constituents: Essential oil, cineol, borneol, tan-
nin, acids, resin [5,11].
Ethno-botanical use: Antiepileptic [5] and antispas-
modic [7].
4.11. Salvia Fruticosa Mill/Salvia Officinalis L.
Arabic: Marmarya, miramia, Na’ema.
English: Three-lobed sage, Sage.
Plant parts: Leaves, seeds and flowers.
Active constituents: Vitamin B complex [13]; leaves
contain essential oil: phenols; and thujones which de- press the central nervous system; to prevent convulsions [8,9], tannin, camphor, cineol, borneol, pinene, resin [5,11], sulfur and steroid substances [13].
Ethno-botanical use: Antispasmodic [5].
4.12. Stachys Lavandulaefolia/Stachys Arabica Hornem
Arabic: Sarmag.
English: Woundwort.
Plant parts: The whole herb.
Active constituents: Essential oil, tannins, alkaloids
[5].
Ethno-botanical use: Antispasmodic [5].
4.13. Thymbra Spicata L.
Arabic: Za’tar hmar, za’tar shibli.
English: Spiked thymbra.
Plant parts: Leaves and stalks.
Active constituents: Essential oil: Thujene, myrecene,
alpha-terpinene, paracymene, gama-terpinene, linalool, carvacrol and betacaryophyllene [17].
Ethno-botanical use: boil green leaves and stalks in water, put in bath tub and soak your body for one hour, to treat paralyzed limbs [10].
4.14. Thymus Algeriensis Boiss. & Reut./ Thymus Serpyllum L./Thymus Vulgaris
Arabic: Khieta, zahhayfy, za’tar.
English: Thyme.
Plant parts: The whole herb.
Active constituents: Essential oil, cymol, thymol, tan-
nin [5].
Volatile oil: Phenols such as thymol, carvacrol, glyco-
side, and flavonoids [11,14,15].
Ethno-botanical use: Leaves and flowering branches
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are an antispasmodic [7] and sedative [5,14].
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160 A. ABU-RABIA
5. Compositae: (15 Plants)
5.1. Achillea Fragrantissima (Forssk)/Achillea Millefolium
Arabic: Qaysum, qisum, umm alf waraqa.
English: Lavender cotton, yarrow.
Plant parts: Leaves, flowers.
Preparation: Boil in water and drink.
Active constituents: Flavonoids, sesquinterpene lac-
tones, which relieve convulsions and inflammations [9]; terpenoids, sterols, lactones, and chamazulenes [14]; and Potassium [13].
Ethno-botanical uses: Used as an antispasmodic [12]. Make a vapor bath by boiling leaves and flowers, or pre- pare an infusion to drink, in order to treat convulsions and muscle spasms.
5.2. Ambrosia Maritima L.
Arabic: Damsisa.
English: Sea Ambrosia.
Plant parts: Leaves, the whole plant.
Preparation: Boil in water and drink.
Active constituents: Chlorosesquiterpene lactones [14]. Ethno-botanical uses: The whole plant is used as an
antispasmodic [14].
5.3. Anacyclus Pyrethrum L. Link
Arabic: Oud el-’attas, Agargarha.
English: Spanish pellitory.
Parts used: Roots.
Active constituents: The roots contain anacyclin [18]. Ethno-botanical use: A gargle of its infusion is pre-
scribed for partial paralysis of the tongue and lips, relief of neuralgia and palsy [7].
5.4. Artemisia Absinthium L./Artemesia Herba-Alba Asso
Arabic: Shih Rumi, Afsantin, Shih, sheeh.
English: Wormwood, absinthium.
Plant parts: Leaves, flowers.
Preparation: Boil in water and drink, or eat.
Active constituents: Vitamin C [13]. Its active sub-
stances include silica, two bitter substances (absinthin and anabsinthine), thujone, tannic and resinous substances, malic acid, and succinic acid. Essential oil, resin, pinene, cadinen, tannin [5,11]; Santonin, sterols and thujones [11,19]; it also contains essential oils, sesquiterpene lac- tones and thymol; leaves and stems contain three non- glycosidic flavonoids [14].
Ethno-botanical uses: To treat nervousness: prepare a sweetened extract, from the leaves, in glass of water and drink it [9]; to treat paralysis [20]. It is also used as an antispasmodic and calmative (having relaxing/quieting
effect or pacifying properties).
5.5. Atractylis Gummifera L.
Arabic: Heddad, Shawk el-’elk.
English: White chameleon, Spindle wort.
Plant parts: Leaves and flowers
Active constituents: Verapamil, or dithiothreitol [21]. Ethno-botanical use: Root fumigant for paralysis; in-
fusion of flowers for epilepsy and convulsions, paralysis of lips [7].
5.6. Calendula Officinalis L.
Arabic: Uqhuwan.
English: Marigold.
Plant parts: Leaves, flowers and fruit.
Preparation: Boil in water and drink.
Active constituents: Calendulin, essential oil, acids
mucilage and carotenoides [5]; Vitamin A and phosphor- rus [13].
Ethno-botanical uses: Flowers are used as an antispas- modic [7,11].
5.7. Carthamus Tinctorius L.
Arabic: Qurtum, zafaran, ’usfur.
English: Safflower.
Plant parts: Flowers and seeds.
Active constituents: Carthamin, fixed oil, yellow and
red coloring matters [5]. Safflower seeds are the source of oil [13]; flowers contain palmitic acid, myristic acid and lauric acid; flavonoids and sterols; seeds contain aphenolic amide [14].
Ethno-botanical use: Boil flowers in water for 15 min- utes, filter, and drink five table spoons a day, to treat paralyzed body organs [10].
5.8. Chrysanthemum Coronarium L.
Arabic: Bisbass, Sufirah, balsamiya.
English: Chrysanthemum.
Plant parts: Leaves and flowers.
Active constituents: Sesquiterpene lactones [9]. Ethno-botanical use: Use the leaves in a steam bath to
relieve muscle aches, nervousness and contractions of the uterus [9]; sedative and antispasmodic [8].
5.9. Echinops Ritro L.
Arabic: Qunfudhiya.
English: Globe thistle.
Plant parts: Flowers and seeds.
Active constituents: Echinospine, oil and minerals [5]. Ethno-botanical use: Antispasmodic and neurotonic
[5].
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5.10. Inula Viscose (L.) Ait
Arabic: ’Irq al-Tayun, Tayun.
English: Inula, Elecampane, clammy inula.
Plant parts: Leaves, roots and the whole herb. Preparation: Boil in water and drink
Active constituents: Inulin, levulin, mucilage, essential
oil [5]; flavonoids: Quercetin and inulin [9]. Ethno-botanical use: To cure muscle cramps—prepare a steam bath with the leaves or the whole herb; treat local paralysis: Extract oil from the leaves and massage the affected area. For nervousness, prepare a decoction from the roots and spread it on the body [9]. Or soak the leaves in water and drink a table spoon a day for one week as a
tranquilizer.
5.11. Lactuca Serriola L.
Arabic: Khass Barri.
English: Oil lettuce, Prickly lettuce.
Plant parts: Leaves, stems and stalks.
Preparation: Eat as raw salad.
Active constituents: Alkaloids, flavonoids and saponin
[22].
Ethno-botanical use: Calmative and antispasmodic [7].
5.12. Matricaria Recutita L.
Arabic: Uqhuwan, kahwan, babounaj.
English: Wild chamomile, German Chamomile.
Plant parts: Flowers, the whole herb.
Active constituents: Essential oil, vitamin C, coumarin,
apigenin [5]; potassium [13]; volatile oil; proazulene, flavoles and coumarines; apigenin glycosides [14].
Ethno-botanical use: Flowers are an antispasmodic [7] and sedative [8].
5.13. Silybum Marianum L.
Arabic: Khurfeish al-jamal, shouk al-jamal.
English: Milk thistle, St. Mary’s Thistle.
Plant parts: Shoots, the whole herb, seeds.
Preparation: To be eaten as raw salad; or boiled in wa-
ter and drank.
Active constituents: Tyramine, tannin, resin, fixed oil
[5]; seeds contain a mixture of glycosides known as silymarine. Silymarine contain active ingredients: Silybin, silychristin, and silydianin [9].
Ethno-botanical use: Antispasmodic [5].
6. Umbelliferae: (15 Plants)
6.1. Ammi Visnage L.
Arabic: Khella, Saq al-’Arus. English: Bishop’s weed. Part used: Seeds.
Active constituents: In modern medicine-substances produced from this plant are: Khellin, visnagin, visnadin and khellol-they are spasmolytic agents, and relax vari- ous smooth muscles [9,11].
Ethno-botanical use: To prepare a water infusion of the crushed seeds, and drink one cup a day, as an antis- pasmodic [5,7], and to prevent muscle spasms [11,12].
6.2. Anethum Graveolens L.
Arabic: Shebet, ’ayn Jaradeh.
English: Dill.
Plant parts: Seeds and flowers, fruit.
Active constituents: Essential oil, terpenes, carvone,
fixed oil, tannin [5]; sulfur [13]; essential oil: carvone [9]; seeds contain volatile oil: Anethofuran, carvone and li- monene [14].
Ethno-botanical use: Fruit is used as an antispasmodic and sedative [7]; and as tranquilizer.
6.3. Apium Graveolens L.
Arabic: Karafs.
English: Celery.
Part used: Leaves, roots and seeds.
Active constituents: The seeds contain essential oils of
which the main components are limonene and apiol [9,11]; Essential oil, apiin, asparagin, limonene [5].
Ethno-botanical uses: Roots are used in the form of infusion for relaxing nervous tension, and is antispas- modic [5,11].
6.4. Carum Carvi L.
Arabic: Krawya, Karawiya.
English: Caraway, common caraway.
Plant parts: Flowers and seeds.
Active constituents: Essential oil, fixed oil, carvone,
resin, tannin, coumarins [5]; and phosphorus [13]. Ethno-botanical use: Analgesic, ripe fruits are a nerve
calmative; ripe seeds antispasmodic [7,11].
6.5. Conium Maculatum
Arabic: Shiqran, Shawkaran.
English: Poison-hemlock, Hemlock.
Plant parts: Dried leaves, seeds and roots.
Preparation: The dried leaves are soaked in water and
drunk, a table spoon a day for two weeks.
Active constituents: Essential oil, coniine, conhydrine,
conicein [5]; alkaloids: Coniine, being the toxic constitu- ent, found in all parts of the plant [9]; Coniilne and con- hydrine [11].
Ethno-botanical use: Treat nervous excitability, acting on the paralysis tremors. Young branches and ripe fruits is effective as a tranquilizer, analagesic, prophylactic
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A. ABU-RABIA 161
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muscle relaxant; neuroleptic, antidepressant, and anti- convulsant [5,9]. The tincture is prescribed as a neuro- muscular sedative and antispasmodic for a paralyzed respiratory system [7,11].
6.6. Coriandrum Sativum L.
Arabic: kuzbarah, kusbara.
English: Coriander.
Plant parts: seeds and leaves.
Preparation: boil in water and drink.
Active constituents: Essential oil, corinadrol [5]; and
Vitamin C [13]; essential oil from the fruit has high con- tent of linalol, a material which is used in the production of vitamin A; leaves are a source of vitamin A, and C; and coriander oil [9]; fruit and leaves contain: fats, pro- tein, volatile oil [14].
Ethno-botanical use: The distilled essential oil from the fruits relieves muscle pains, and acts as a tranquillizer [9], antispasmodic [5], sedative and treat nervous disor- ders [7].
6.7. Cuminum Cyminum L.
Arabic: Kamun, sannut.
English: Cumin.
Plant parts: Seeds.
Active constituents: Cuminol, carvone, essential oil,
cymol, cuminic aldehyde [5]; seeds contain volatile oil [14].
Ethno-botanical use: infusion of fruits antispasmodic [7] and sedative [14].
6.8. Daucus Carota L. Subsp
Arabic: Jazar barri, jiziyr.
English: Wild carrot.
Plant parts: fruit, roots and seeds.
Preparation: eaten as raw food.
Active constituents: Vitamin A and B, pytosterine, ca-
rotin, asparagine, minerals [5]; Vitamins A, B6, B com- plex, and C; Chloride compounds, magnesium, potas- sium, sodium and iron; it is a source of carbohydrates [13]; roots contain glucose, sucrose, protein, salts, pectin, carotene, vitamins and asparagine; seeds contain: pinene, limonene, carotol, daucol, isobutyric acid and asarone [14].
Ethno-botanical use: fruits are an antispasmodic [7], and sedative [14].
6.9. Eryngium Creticum Lam
Arabic: Kursannih.
English: Eryngo, Snake root.
Plant parts: roots.
Preparation: boil in water and drink.
Active constituents: Sugar, saponins, essential oil [5].
Ethno-botanical use: to strengthen the nerves, to treat paralysis and nervous diseases [14].
6.10. Pimpinella Anisum/Pimpinella Cretica Poirt
Arabic: Yansun.
English: Anise, Sweet cumin, Aniseed plant.
Plant parts: seeds and flowers.
Active constituents: essential oil, anethol, fixed oil,
choline, mucilage [5]; anisic acid, fats, protein and sugar [14].
Ethno-botanical uses: To treat convulsion, facial pa- ralysis boil seeds in water, and allow the body to obserb the steam. The steams contain essential oil which affect on the face convulsions and heal them [10]. Seeds treat spasms [6,11].
6.11. Ferula Asafetida/Ferula Communis/Ferula Narthex
Arabic: haltit, Simgh al-Unjadhan, Jiddeh.
English: Asafoetida.
Plant parts: resin: oleo-gum-resin.
Preparation: boiled in water and drunk, chewed, or
burn on coals for inhaling the smoke.
Active constituents: Sulfur [13]. The oleo-gum-resin,
asafetida, is obtained from the plant’s rhizome; it consist volatile oil which contain sulphur compounds; the resin- ous portion include asaresinol ferulate and free ferulic acid [11,23].
Ethno-botanical use: the oleo-gum-resin is used as an antispasmodic [7,14].
6.12. Foeniculum Vulgare Mill
Arabic: Shawmar.
English: Fennel.
Plant parts: Stems, leaves and seeds.
Preparation: Boil leaves in water and drink two cups a
day for three weeks.
Active constituents: Essential oil, anethole, anisic acid,
acids, fixed oil [5]; Potassium and sulfur [13]; from the fruit we get fennel oil: anethole and enol; liquorice and senna [9]; seeds contain volatile oil; phenolic anethole and a ketone fenchone [14].
Ethno-botanical use: the fruit is an antispasmodic and calmative [7,11,12].
7. Papilionaceae: (10 Plants)
7.1. Glycyrrhiza Glabra L.
Arabic: ’Irq al-sus, ’ud al-sus. English: Liquorices, licorice.
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Plant parts: leaves, rhizome.
Preparation: boil in water and drink.
Active constituents: Glycyrrhizin asparagine, liquirtin,
coumarin, sugar, tannin [5], and phosphorus; and steroid substances [13]; glycyrrhizin and glycyrrhetic acid [9]; the plant is a source of licorice, the sweet taste due to glycyrrhizin (the calcium and potassium salts of glycyr- rhizinic acid); flavonoids, starch, protein and bitter prin- ciples [11,14].
Ethno-botanical use: to relax uterine muscles, antispas- modic [7,8], and tranquilizer, sedative, rhizome is used for treating muscle pain [14].
7.2. Lotus corniculatus
Arabic: qarn al-ghazal, beseli.
English: Bird’s foot.
Plant parts: flowers.
Active constituents: cyanogenetiques, flavonoides [8]. Ethno-botanical use: sedative and antispasmodic [8].
7.3. Medicago sativa L.
7.6. Trifolium arvense/Trifolium pratense/Trifolium purpureum
Arabic: barsim ahmar, abu d’alabish, naflih.
English: red clover.
Plant parts: leaves and roots.
Active constituents: Tannin, trifoline, isotrifoline [5]. Ethno-botanical uses: used as sedative and an anti-
spasmodic; treat emotional tension and strain [10,24].
7.7. Vicia faba L.
Arabic: Foul, fool.
English: broad bean.
Plant parts: broad bean/brown bean.
Preparation: eat as coked food, eat broad bean once a
day for two to three weeks.
Active constituents: Vitamin B1, B complex; Phospho-
rus, potassium, copper and iron [13].
Ethno-botanical uses: flowers are an antispasmodic
[7].
8. Liliaceae: (7 Plants)
8.1. Asphodelus aestivus/Asphodelus fistulosus/Asphodelus ramosus/ Asphodelus Microcarpus Salzm. & Viv
Arabic: Swai.
English: Asphodel.
Plant parts: roots, leaves, flowers, seeds and bulbs. Preparation: boil in water and drink.
Active constituents: Asphodeline, inuline, mucilage
[5], Alkaloids, glycosides and anthraquinones [9]. Ethno-botanical use: antispasmodic [5]. Rubbing the body with roasted tubers and drinking decoction from
leaves treats paralysis [7].
8.2. Lilium candidum L.
Arabic: Zanbaq, Sawsan abyad.
English: White lily.
Plant parts: flowers and bulbs, leaves or dried seeds. Preparation: soak in water and drink.
Active constituents: Scillin, minerals, mucilage, pec-
tinds [5].
Ethno-botanical use: antispasmodic [5].
8.3. Ruscus aculeatus L.
Arabic: Ass Barri, Khizana.
English: Butcher’s broom, Kee holly.
Plant parts: roots, leaves.
Preparation: boil in water and drink.
Active constituents: mixture of sterols and fatty acids
[9].
Ethno-botanical use: An infusion of the flowers tran-
Arabic: khubz al-Ra’ay, barsim hijazy.
English: Medick, locerne, alfalfa.
Plant parts: leaves, seeds, and the whole herb.
Active constituents: Saponin, alkaloids [5]; Vitamins
A, C, K and B complex; and enzymes [13]; saponin, glucose and medicagenic acid; lucernic acid, oil, flavon- oids, alkaloids and phenols [14].
Ethno-botanical use: sedative which quiets nervous ac- tivity [14].
7.4. Melilotus alba/Melilotus indicus (L.) All
Arabic: nafal.
English: Scented trefoil.
Plant parts: leaves, and flowers.
Active constituents: coumarins and flavonoids, terpe-
noid glycosides, herniarin, choline and aromatic com- pound [14].
Ethno-botanical use: infusion of flowering branches is an antispasmodic [7].
7.5. Retama raetam (Forssk.) Webb
Arabic: ratam, ratama.
English: white broom, ratame.
Plant parts: The whole herb, flowers.
Active constituents: Essential oil [5]; alkaloids: reta-
mine and sparteine [9].
Ethno-botanical use: to treat limb paralysis: use the
upper branches to prepare a vapor bath; to treat local paralysis: use the roots-boil in water and spread the ex- tract on the affected area [9].
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A. ABU-RABIA 163
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quilizes the nerves and calms hysterical seizures and con- vulsions; a decoction of the branches mitigates convul- sions [9].
8.4. Urginea maritima L. Bak
Arabic: halluf, ’Unsol, bussayl.
English: Squil white.
Plant parts: leaves, bulbs.
Active constituents: Urginin, cardiotonic glycosides,
scillaren, mucilage [5,11]; bulbs contain glycoside: pros- cillaridin A.
Ethno-botanical uses: treatment of cathartic and upset nerves [7,11].
9. Solanaceae: (6 Plants)
9.1. Atropa belladonna L.
Arabic: Set al-Husn.
English: Deadly nightshade, Belladona.
Plant parts: leaves and roots.
Active constituents: atrosin [5]; atropine, hyoscyamine
and hyoscine cocaein [11].
Ethno-botanical use: antispasmodic and sedative [5,
11].
9.2. Datura stramonium L.
Arabic: Daturah, Semm al-far.
English: Jimsonweed, thorn-apple.
Plant parts: leaves, seeds and roots.
Active constituents: active ingredients like alkaloids of
the tropane group, such as atropine, scopolamine and hyoscamine [9]; daturine, hyoscyamine, atropine, sco- polamine, hyocine [5,11].
Ethno-botanical use: sedative, analgesic, antispasmo- dic, for asthma and neuralgic pain; acts as a tranquil- lizer. Tincture of leaves prescribed for spasmodic coughs and asthma; leaves used in fumigations and in cigarettes to ease asthma attacks [5]. Atropine is one of the active ingredients in this plant. Its physiological activity is mainly on the central nervous system. It is used to pre- vent convulsions of the smooth muscles, especially in the lower part of the body [9]. Leaves acts as an antispas- modic and sedative [7,11].
9.3. Hyoscyamus albus L./Hyoscyamus aureus
Arabic: Sikiran, banj.
English: White henbane.
Part used: Leaves and seeds.
Active constituents: Alkaloids, hyoscyamine, hyoscy-
picrin, essential oil [5]; atropine and hyoscine [11]. Ethno-botanical use: plant alleviates nervous irritation such as various forms of hysteria [7]; calmative, tran-
quilizer for hysteria and nervousness [9,11].
9.4. Nicotiana tabacum L.
Arabic: teten, tebgh, dukhan
English: Tobacco
Plant parts: Leaves.
Active constituents: Nicotine compounds [5]; nicotine
and anabacine [11].
Ethno-botanical use: CNS stimulant followed by de-
pression, hypertensive [5]; smoking dried leaves as tran- quilizer and antispasmodic.
9.5. Solanum nigrum L.
Arabic: Enab eddib, ‘Enb al-Tha’lab.
English: Black nightshade.
Part used: The whole herb, fruit (berries) and seeds.
Unripe berries are poisonous, ripe berries are edible. Active constituents: Saponin, solanine [5,9]; Vitamin
C and carotenes [14]; solasodine [11].
Ethno-botanical use: sedative, antispasmodic [5]. Leaves
to relieve nervous pains: use the leaves, prepare a decoc- tion and massage with it; the fruit have a narcotic and tranquilizing effect; extracts of this plant suppress the activity of the central nervous system and prevent muscle spasms [9].
Published at: Sun Dec 22 2024
